Vending machine



Nov. 5, 1935.v

A. N. KROHN VENDING MACHINE Fil'ed Dec. 1o, 1954 Patented Nov. 5, 1935 UNITED sTATEs ATENT 4oFlFlcla:

VENDING MACHINE Axel N. Krohn, Chicago, Ill.

Application December 10, 1934, Serial No. '756,845

claims.Y (o1. 194-5'1) 'This invention relates to a vending machine, and particularly to such a. machine adapted to vend bars of. candy, chewing gum or similar articles, the same being constructed and arranged to be operated by a coin.

In vending machines for vending such articles as above noted it has usually been necessary to have the candy or other article placed in a box or carton of rectangular outline.

It is an object of this invention to provide a vending machine so constructed and arranged that candy bars or other articles can be placed therein and be successfully discharged upon the deposit of a coin without being disposed inspecial cartons or boxes.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a vending machine comprising a vertically extending casing with an endless member therein having open-sided carriers with their open sides moving adjacent the sides of said casing to retain articles therein.

It is a further object of the invention to have such a machine as set forth in the preceding paragraph so arranged that the lowermost carrier will discharge its article which will be guided by a platethrough an opening in the front of said casing It is still another object of the invention to provide such a vending machine as above set forth in which said endless carrier is intermittently moved by a rotating shaft geared to a second shaft, said second shaft carrying a member adapted to be rotated by engagement of the deposited coin.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully set forth in the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:-

Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken on line I-I of Fig. 2; Y Y

Fig. 2,is a horizontal section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a verseau section taken on une 3 3 of Fig. 2; i Y

Fig. 4 is a partial view similar to Fig. 3 showing the parts in diierent positions;

Fig. 5'is a horizontalsection taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and A Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5, said sections being taken as indicated by the arrows.

Referring to the drawing, a vending machine is shown comprising a casing IIJ, said casing being of upright or vertically extending form having a rear wall I Ila, a front wall Ib, side walls I 3c and a bottom Ilid. Front wall I 6b curves rearwardly at its upper portion and extends to rear wall Illa in a substantially horizontal plane to form the top wall I 5e. The lower portion of front wall IIJb is bent inwardly as shown in Fig. 1 to provide an opening Itif in the front of casing I0 at the bottom thereof. A plate 9 has its upper end disposed closely against the rear wall I0a some distance above bottom Id, the same curving downwardly and rearwardly from said upper end and extending downwardly to the rear side of opening IIlf. The front and rear walls IUa and I [lb have their vertical edges turned inwardly as shown at Ig. The side wall IIJc is reversely bent or folded and has flanges IIlh projecting inwardly adapted to fit within the bent portions or flanges Illy. Side wall Ic is thus made removable but is adapted to be locked in position to casing I0 by means not shown. Said casing I0 is preferably made of sheet metal and a plate II is shown as disposed along the inner side of the front wall IIlb and while this plate may be of different materials it is illustrated as being made of Wood. Another plate or strip I2 extends along and is secured to the inner 'side of one side wall Illc. A U-shaped bracket I3 is secured. to the rear wall IIla by the nutted bolt I4 and has arms projecting toward the front wall IIlb and extending downwardly and `secured to bottom Illd by bolts I3a. A shaft I5 extends through and is journaled in one arm of bracket I3 and in a bearing I6 carried by the strip I2. A small gear or pinion I'I is secured to shaft I5 in any suitable manner as by pin I8, the hub of said gear engaging the side of one arm of bracket I3. Shaft I5 has secured thereto at spaced points sprocket wheels I9. Brackets 2E) are secured at their ends respectively to strip i2 by the bolts ZI and extend upwardly and downwardly respectively, the lower bracket 29 having a bearing 20a at its end against which the hub of one sprocket I9 engages, shaft I5 passing through and being journaled in said bearing. Endless chains 22 pass around the lower sides of sprockets I9 and at their upper ends pass around disks-23 secured in spacedrelation to a shaft 24 journaled in bearings carried by strip l2 and in a bearing carried at the upper end of upper bracket .9411@ ,being rectangular in vertical cross section.

Said carriers have secured thereto at spaced points U-shaped clips 26 having their sides apertured to receive small rods 2'I which extend between the chains 22 and have their ends bent at a right angle at the outer sides of clips 26. It will be noted that carriers 25 have their open sides moving adjacent the rear wall Ia and front plate I I so that articles carried therein will be retained therein by said wall and plate.

A second shaft 28 extends between and is journaled in the arms of bracket I3 forwardly of shaft I5, said second shaft being parallel to shaft I5. A gear 29 meshing with and of much greater diameter than gear I'I is secured to shaft 28 in any suitable manner as by pin 3D and a toothed wheel 3| is also secured to shaft 28 in any suitable manner as by pin 32. Another wheel or disk 33 is secured to shaft 28 in any suitable manner as by pin 34. A bracket 35 is secured to front wall I0b and a lever 36 is pivoted to said bracket by pivot member 3l. Lever 36 extends over disk 33 and said disk has in its periphery a plurality of circumferentially spaced notches 33a. Lever 36 has a projection 36a adapted to enter one of the notches 33a and said lever is normally urged to position with said projection 36a engaging in a notch by a spring 38 secured to the rear end of lever 3B and to a guide member 39 to be later described. Guide member 33 comprises vertically spaced plates 39a extending beneath shaft 28 and parts carried thereby, said plates forming a passageway for a coin 4D which may be deposited on the lower of said plates through an opening 39h in the top plate in front of the front wall Ib. A plunger 4I is also slidable in the passageway between plates 39a, the same having an opening or slot 4Ia in its rear end of sufficient width to receive coin 40, the rear end of saidplunger having its end upturned as shown at 4 Ib in Fig. 6. The outer end of plunger 4I is downturned as shown at 4Ic to form a handle. Plate or guide member 39 is supported on an angle bracket 42 secured to its under side and to the front wall IIIb. The lever 36 has its free end extending downwardly into a narrow Y slot 39e formed in plates 39a some distance inwardly of front wall I 0b and the lower side of the toothed wheel 3| is also disposed in said slot,

the teeth thereof being so disposed as to be engaged at their edges by coin when moved in said guideway.

In operation, the side wall IIIc will be removed and the carriers 25 will be loaded with the articles to be dispensed, such as candy bars. These bars as stated need not be placed in boxes but may be placed in the carriers 25 merely wrapped as usual in paper. Articles can be placed in all of the carriers 25 except the lowermost one. Side Ic will now be replaced and locked in position.

Lever 36 is normally in the position shown in Fig. 3 and slide or plunger 4I is normally in the position shown in Fig. 3. Should a person desire to secure a candy bar he will place his coin, such as a nickel, in the opening 39h and in opening 4Ia and said coin will rest on lower plate 39a. The person now pushes in plunger 3| and the coin is engaged by the end of slot 4 la and moved inwardly. moving its lower end inwardly and raising its upper end against the tension of spring 38 so that projection 36a is withdrawn from one of and again moving into slot 39e in the rear of,

said coin. Coin 40 then engages a tooth of wheel The coin first presses on lever .36,`

3I and said wheel is rotated through a partial revolution rotating shaft 28 and through the gears 29 and I'I rotating shaft I5 and sprockets I9 and moving the chains 22. A carrier 25 is thus moved into discharging position at the bot- 5 tom of said chains and the article therein is discharged onto plate 9 and slides down thereon forwardly through opening If. When the coin has been pushed in as far as it can be ,byV plunger 4I, projection 36a again engages in one of the 10 notches 33a and the machine is again in normal position. It will be understood that wheel 3I and disk 33 were rotated suciently by the coin to bring the notch engaged by projection 36a out of alinement therewith before the coin passed l5 out of engagement with the lower end of lever 36. When the next coin is placed in the machine and plunger 4I operated, another article will be dispensed and the previous coin will be pushed beyond the end of guideway 39 and will 20 drop into the bottom of the casing which forms a coin box. It will be seen as shown in Fig. l that the articles will be discharged fromrthe carriers 25 and will slide downwardly and outwardly on plate 9 through opening Illf. It will l25 be also understood that the lever 3B with its projection 35a acts as a'stop pawl for Wheel 3|, preventing backward movement of the latter.

From the aboveA description it is seen that applicant has provided a very simple and yet a verf,7 30 efficient Vending machine. The machine can be easily loaded with the articles to be dispensed and the articles will successively be dispensed upon the deposit of the coins. The device has` been amply demonstrated in actual practice and v35 found to be very successful and efficient.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes maybe made in the form, details, ar-

rangement and proportions of the parts, withoutv departing from the scope of applicants invenl0 tion, which generally stated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above set forth in the parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined inthe appended claims. I..

What is claimed isz- 1. A device of the class vdescribed having in combination, a member adapted to be intermittently moved including a shaft, a second shaft parallel thereto, gearing connecting said shafts. awheel having projecting teeth at its periphery secured to said second shaft rotating in a vertical plane, a plate at the lower side of said wheel disposed in a horizontal plane and having a `slot therein into which the lower teeth of said' wheel extend, said plate being constructed and arranged to support a coin, a guideway for said coin above said plate, a plunger movable in said guideway toward said Wheel, a second wheelhaving circumferentially spaced notches therein secured to said second shaft', a lever pivoted adjacent said 60 wheels having a projection adapted to enter one of said notches and having a portion extending into said guideway in the path of said coin, a springA urging said lever to. position with said projection engaging in one of said notches so that a coin moved by said plunger' will swing said lever and remove said projection from said notch and said coin will then move against a tooth Vof said first mentioned wheel and rotate the same until said projection engages another Yof said notches.

2.7A device of the class described having in combination, a shaft adapted to be intermittently rotated, a plate-like wheel secured tov said shaft having projecting teeth, said wheel being disposed in a vertical plane, av coin-supporting plate and guideway at the lower portion of said wheel disposed in a horizontal plane and having a vertical slot therein into which the lower teeth of said wheel project, a second wheel of smaller diameter than said first mentioned wheel secured to said shaft having circumferentially spaced notches in its periphery, a member pivoted at one side of said second wheel extending thereover and having a projection adapted to enter one of said notches at the upper portion of said second wheel, said member having a portion below its pivot extending into said slot,

a plunger movable in said guideway for moving a coin therein and on said plate, said coin being adapted to engage said member and swing the same to remove said projection from its notch, said coin then engaging one of the teeth of said first mentioned Wheel and rotating the same until said projection enters another notch on said second wheel and resilient means for moving said member to position to move said projection into one of said notches.

3. A device of the class described having in combination, a shaft adapted to be intermittently rotated, a plate-like wheel disposed in a vertical plane secured to said shaft and having teeth projecting at its periphery, a support and guideway for a coin at the lower portion of said wheel Y including a plate disposed in a horizontal plane, the same having a slot therethrough extending parallel to the plane of said wheel into which the lower teeth of said wheel project, a member secured to said shaft having stop means thereon, a second member pivoted at one side of said member having a downwardly projecting portion extending into said slot, said second member extending over said first mentioned member and having means to engage said stop means to prevent rotation of said wheel, resilient means urging said second member to position to move said means into engagement, a plunger movable in said guideway to move a coin therein so that its edge engages the lower portion of said second member and swings the same to dis'engage said means and permit rotation of said wheel, said coin then engaging one of the teeth of said first mentioned wheel and rotating the same until 5 said means again engage to stop rotation of said wheel.

4. A device of the class described having in combination, a member adapted to be intermittently moved including a shaft, a second shaft parallel thereto, gearing connectingsaid shafts,

a wheel having projecting teeth at its periphery secured to said second shaft rotating in a vertical plane, a plate at the lower side of said wheel disposed in a horizontal plane and having a slot therein into which the lower teeth of said wheel 4 extend, said plate being constructed and arranged to support a coin, a guideway for said coin above said plate, a plunger movable in said y guideway toward said wheel, whereby a coin v moved by said plunger will be positioned in a plane perpendicular to the plane of said wheel and will engage one of said teeth and rotate said wheel and means holding said wheel against rotation but engaged by said coin and moved to release said wheel.

5. A device of the class described having in combination, a member adapted to be intermittently moved including a shaft, a second shaft adjacent said shaft, means connecting said shafts for simultaneous rotation, a wheel having projecting teeth at its periphery secured to said second shaft and rotating in a vertical plane, a member having a substantially horizontal coinsupporting surface below which surface the lower teeth of said wheel project, means for moving a coin on said surface to engage a tooth on the lower side of said wheel for rotating said wheel and means holding said wheel against rotation but engaged by said coin and moved to release said wheel for rotation by said coin.

AXEL N. KROHN. 

